Mohamed El-Sayed Said…The unstoppable march of struggle

The Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies would like to join all those striving for freedom, justice, and human dignity in mourning the death of prominent intellectual and rights advocate Dr. Mohamed El-Sayed Said, who passed away after a long life of struggle. Throughout his life, Dr. Said remained a tireless supporter of popular struggles in Egypt and the Arab world, a partisan in the battle for independence and liberation from all forms of economic, political, and military dependency, a defender of the right to self-determination and the freedom to administer national resources, and a fighter of all manner of repression brought to bear on peoples of this region by authoritarian regimes.

Although the CIHRS remains particularly indebted to Dr. Said for the pioneering role he played in establishing the institute and setting its intellectual and practical course, his intellectual contributions have been an inspiration for the development of working programs in dozens of rights institutions around the Arab world. The human rights movement has influenced a new generation that has joined the ranks of human rights defenders, and this movement has been heavily influenced by Dr. Said’s intellectual and human legacy.

Dr. Said laid the foundations for a special theory of the defense of human rights in the Arab world, one that recognizes the universality of human rights while also affirming certain elements of cultural particularity that do not lead to affronts to human dignity.

Despite the great loss Dr. Said’s death represents for us at CIHRS and for all forces resisting despotism and defending the universality of human rights principles and values, Dr. Said’s intellectual and human contributions will continue to illuminate the path of all those striving for freedom and justice and everyone who aspires to see human rights flourish in Arab societies as they do in other societies around the world.